On Saturday, August 2, California residents will join people around the world in demonstrations of solidarity with the suffering Christians in Iraq.
As has been widely reported, Iraqi Christians have been given an ultimatum by the ISIS terrorists: convert to Islam, leave Iraq, or die. (They had originally been offered the alternative of paying the jizya, a tax levied on non-Muslims, but that was later withdrawn.). Many are fleeing the place that has been there home for nearly 2000 years.
According to a July 30 article in AINA, the Assyrian International News Agency, “Since taking over Mosul on June 10, ISIS has destroyed, occupied, converted to mosques, converted to ISIS headquarters or shuttered all 45 Christian institutions in Mosul.” That includes the churches and institutions of the Syriac Catholic Church, the Syriac Orthodox Church, the Holy Apostolic Catholic Assyrian Church of the East, the Chaldean Church of Babylon, the Armenian Orthodox Church, the Latin Church, and the lone Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Mosul. The ISIS terrorists have even seized the Christian cemetery in the Ekab Valley which contains a small chapel.
The U.S. bishops have urged our government to help our brothers and sisters in Christ. On July 25 Bishop Richard Pates, the U.S. bishops’ chairman of International Justice and Peace, wrote to National Security Advisor Susan Rice:
“The Islamic State has taken control of large swaths of territory in northern Iraq, leaving a trail of destruction, burning and looting ancient churches and mosques, homes and businesses…Thousands have fled with little more than the clothes on their backs, often being robbed of their few personal possessions as they ran.”
On Wednesday, Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) introduced a resolution: “condemning the violence and persecution of Iraqi Christians and other religious minorities by the Islamic State in Iraq.
The resolution urges the president to reaffirm America’s commitment to religious liberty by helping to create safe zones for refugees fleeing persecution, ensuring timely processing of visa applications from religious minorities, and working with the Iraqi government to ensure religious minorities are protected.
Demonstration of solidarity have already been held in places as distinct as Paris, London, Brussels, Australia, Washington DC, and Turlock CA.
In California two of the locations for the August 2 Worldwide Day of Protest are Los Angeles and San Francisco. The Los Angeles demonstration will be at 11:00 a.m., at 11000 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90024. More information may be found here.
The San Francisco Demonstration will be at 10:00 a.m. at Justin Herman Plaza, at the Embarcadero, and Market Street.
More information may be found here.
I have started a novena to Our Lady of Fatima. I did not know what else to do when I saw how children are being used as pawns at our own borders and in Gaza for political and other purposes. Our Lady appeared at Fatima, a city named after one of Mohammed’s daughters, wearing a gold or yellow Star of David on the bottom of her robe and a Moorish design down its sides.. I am asking her intercession for world peace and conversations of hearts, the safety of all children and an end to war. Anyone who wants to join me at their homes, churches or places of work certainly are welcomed to do so.
Actually Fatima, Portugal, was named after a Christian knight’s wife.
And silence from Barack Hussein Obama.
We’ll be there tomorrow in SF to show solidarity with our Christian brothers and sisters who are being persecuted. Please come join us in peaceful prayer.
And all the while, Obama (with a few of the Gulf States) has financially supported, armed and trained ISIS in Jordan and Syria. It’s painfully obvious that our government has no idea what they’re doing.
Our government has caused the instability in the mid-east by arming rebels. I attended the demonstration in SF today with my husband and we took the time to talk with Assyrian Christians. The bloodshed against Christians in Iraq is horrifying. Watch this video……then continue to sit back and do nothing. We were the only non-arabs at the demonstration to show our solidarity.
https://freedomoutpost.com/2014/07/islamic-state-creates-river-of-blood-butchers-1500-innocent-people/
People in Iraq need a safe haven protected by the United Nations in the Nineveh Plains under international supervision.
Of course. We all know that this is just one more Kenyan Muslim Socialist plot.
One more thought…..IF you believe that what is happening to our Christian brothers and sisters in the mid-east can only happen there…..you are delusional.
This picture is so sad.
Just wanted to note that about 2-3 weeks back, the FSSP announced that Friday, August 1 would be a day of penance and prayer thru all their world wide apostolates. And, many, blogs, notably Rorate-Caeli, requested that other diocese and parishes also take up the call. I’m happy to say that the OSJ in Santa Cruz stepped up with a holy hour of adoration, benediction and prayer in solidarity for our brothers and sisters in the Middle East. Big thanks to Fr. Paul McDonnell and Fr. Jackson Pinheiro for their time and efforts last Friday. Many thanks to the 20+ Faithful who joined in prayer for our persecuted brethren with our Eucharistic Lord.